gixxaboy

No doubt been covered a dozen times, but i'm after a front strut brace, anyone got any recommendations as to the most suitable make / price and where from?

Cheers

Guy

niceyellow vrs

I have an Audi S3 Strut brace on mine. I bought mine second hand form another member on here for £30 but I believe you can buy them direct from Audi dealers for not a lot more. You do need to drill holes in the metal at the top of the struts so that you can put some bolts through.

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gixxaboy

cheers dude! Sorted. Found a Raid adjustable for £37 delivered. For A3, Golf MK4, Bora T etc, hopefully should fit!

Octavia Vrs!

Why would you want to fit one of these? The Octy's handling gives understeer as standard and by fitting a rear ARB the car becomes more neutral and with good coilovers (KW V3's) gives much better body control with a very good ballance. When set up right, no understeer or oversteer just 4 wheel slides. Why would you want to dial the understeer back in by fitting a brace when thats what you've paid good money to get rid of? It really is not required nor beneficial in my opinion.

I see in another post your going the ring. Mine is set-up for the Nurburgring and is going for the 3rd time in 3 weeks and I would't fit a strut brace to mine. Everyone to their own tho eh.

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There's nothing like seeing feathers going in the opposite direction to the bird!

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Steevie Wonder

The top brace is for show IMHO.

The lower brace is quite effective though.

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gixxaboy

Ta for the advice. I'll see how it feels just on the coilovers that are going on next week, and then i'll try the brace, and see what it feels like then. I'm new to the car set up lark TBH, so any ideas and opinions are welcomed! If the brace feels ****e, i'll sell it. Unlike bikes, getting decent suspension etc for cars is quite cheap, so i don't mind playing with ideas and stuff, and if they don't work, going back to the drawing board.

How did you set the car up for the Ring? I found the Octy as standard handled OK but lacked that low down punch. I felt it needed body roll ironing out (although compared with other cars it felt minimal), and was wondering how you go towards minimising the understeer with coilovers.

Cheers!

Octavia Vrs!

Like bike suspension you get what you pay for. Ohlins for bikes is much like KW for a car. A set of KW Variant 3's for the Octy cost £1000 so NOT CHEAP. Things like Jamex and your wasting your money - not saving it, dampers will blow in no time and the set-up not controlled due to minimul if any testing and development on the car. A freind almost bought a cheap set of coilovers for an Alfa 147GTA untill we realised it was the same part number for a 1.6 litre engine as the 3.2 V6 gta. They would not of controlled the extra weight of the V6.

The best place to start on the Octy is a rear anti roll bar. This will make more difference to body control than the coilovers alone will and removes 90 percent of the understeer the car produces as standard. Next is a DECENT set of coilovers and finish off with uprated bushes to make suspension joints tighter. This will give a good balance and with the KW's changing damping rates via the valves for bump and rebound you can make it handle how you like.

The Cheapest set of coilovers I would put on the Octy are Weitecs - a budget KW. Remember the ring is the bigest test of any car and short falls will be apparent very quickly.

After 3 years I've got mine just about as good as I believe the Octy can get, considering it does not have independant rear suspension. Anything else is a waste of money really. As stevie says the lower brace I believe can make a difference but I have not tried it as the ballance is just about perfect now. Remember you'll have to drill your struts for the top brace so not really a good if I dont like it i'll remove it case. The front of the octy is quite stiff with next to no strut movement - Its pointless. Also a bump on one wing can destroy both struts .

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There's nothing like seeing feathers going in the opposite direction to the bird!

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gixxaboy

cheers mate, i'll give em' a go, if they are ****e then so be it. Gotta start somewhere I suppose